London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 20, 2026

Elon Musk overtaken as world's richest person by LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault

Elon Musk overtaken as world's richest person by LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault

The Twitter and Tesla chief executive had held the title of world's richest person since September 2021, when he overtook Amazon's Jeff Bezos to the top spot.

Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no longer the richest person in the world after being usurped by LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.

According to Forbes' real-time billionaires list, the 51-year-old's net worth decreased by $4.5bn (-2.9%) in comparison to Arnault, who oversees some 70 fashion and cosmetic brands, whose rose by $849m (0.46%).

Arnault's net worth is listed as $187.3bn (£151.1bn) on the Forbes list.

Back in October, Arnault hit headlines after he sold his private jet after Twitter accounts such as @i_fly_Bernard and @laviondebernard sprung up on the social media platform to track the billionaire's aircraft, revealing the amount of pollution they cause.

A year prior, the same happened to Musk. The SpaceX and Tesla chief described the tracker, which uses publicly available air-traffic information, as a potential threat to his safety - and offered the teenager behind the social media page $5k (£4k) to shut down the @ElonJet account, which was rejected. Today, the account has been suspended.

Musk's $176.8bn (£142.6bn) real-time net worth is based largely on his 25% ownership of Tesla, but stocks closed down 6.87% for the day today.

Stocks of the automotive company have more than halved in value this year partially due to a sell-off that accelerated in the wake of Musk's $44bn (£35.5bn) Twitter acquisition, CNBC reports, where he sold off approximately $4bn (£3.2bn) of Tesla stock.

Forbes said that the businessman's wealth peaked in November 2021 when he was worth $320bn (£258bn).


CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which uses slightly different methodologies, was updated on Wednesday and also ranked Musk's fortune behind Arnault.

Musk had been the world's richest man since September 2021, taking over from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Much of Musk's wealth is tied up in his private companies including rocket and internet firm SpaceX, infrastructure and tunnel construction services company The Boring Company, and Neuralink, which wants to put computer chips in people's brains.

According to Bloomberg, SpaceX, formerly known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp, is valued at around $140bn (£112.9bn) and dominates the market for commercial space launch.

Musk's dip in global wealth rankings comes shortly after he was greeted with "a lot of boos" during an awkward on-stage appearance at a Dave Chappelle comedy show in San Francisco.

In a clip posted to the mogul's Twitter account, Chappelle is seen asking audience members to "make some noise for the richest man in the world".

They promptly oblige, though likely not in the way either of the men intended. Trying to interject the hostile reaction, Musk spent most of the five-minute appearance awkwardly standing still or pacing around on stage.

In a now deleted tweet, Musk insisted that the crowd was "90% cheers" and "10% boos," which were a result of having offended "San Francisco's unhinged leftists".

A day after his appearance with Chappelle, Twitter dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, which was formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform.

Shortly after buying Twitter for $44bn in late October, Musk said he would form a new "content moderation council" to help make major decisions, but later changed his mind.

Last week, three council members announced they were resigning in a public statement posted on Twitter that said "contrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and wellbeing of Twitter's users are on the decline".
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Brilliant move: Péter Magyar Moves to Nominate Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár as Hungary’s President
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Police Block Cockroach Janta Party’s March to Parliament as Education Protests Intensify
Current AI Seeks to Build an Open Global AI Infrastructure Outside Big Tech Control
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
Josh Kerr Breaks Twenty-Seven-Year World Mile Record at London Diamond League
Thames Water Crisis Deepens as South East Water Outages Hit Thousands in Kent
EU Ban on Destroying Unsold Clothing Forces British Fashion Brands to Change Operations
UK Government Confirms Existing North Sea Oil and Gas Licences Will Be Honoured
UK Covid Inquiry Finds Nearly Ten Billion Pounds Lost in Pandemic Protective Equipment Procurement
Thames Water Moves Toward Possible Temporary Nationalisation Amid Rescue Plan Dispute
Andy Burnham Cancels One Point Eight Billion Pound Digital ID Programme After Taking Office
UK Government Takes British Steel Into Full Public Ownership to Protect Jobs and Supply Chains
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister and Pledges Focus on Living Costs and Public Services
Germany’s Economic Malaise Reopens the Sunday Shopping Debate
Singapore Considers Lower Taxes for Fund Managers as Hong Kong Intensifies Talent Contest
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Bank of Asia BVI Enters Court-Supervised Liquidation After Regulators Find It Insolvent
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Netherlands Declares Water Shortage Emergency After Drought Pushes Rivers to Historic Lows
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate Who Turned "Toxic Masculinity" Into a Brand Arrested in Miami as Britain Seeks Their Extradition
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
Gold and Cash Seizure Puts Indonesia’s Senior Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Under Investigation
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Bank of England Warns Climate Shocks Could Trigger Sudden Asset Repricing
UK Treasury Places Microsoft, Google, AWS and Oracle Under New Financial Resilience Rules
Scottish Government Faces Pressure Over Delays in Vulnerable Group Background Checks
Crown Prosecution Service Authorises Additional Charges Against Andrew and Tristan Tate
NHS Approves At-Home Cancer Treatments for Rare Blood Disorders
Bank of England Gains Oversight of Major Cloud Providers Supporting UK Financial System
UK Government Plans Major Overhaul of English Local Councils Through New Unitary Authorities
British Steel Nationalisation Dispute Escalates as Chinese Owner Jingye Seeks Compensation
Bank of England Signals Interest Rates Will Stay High as It Warns of Financial Risks From Climate and AI
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
Ukrainian Drone Barrage Kills Eight and Strikes Russian Logistics Network
Key Trends to Watch
Financial Conduct Authority Warns Cloud and Digital Risks Are Becoming a Financial Priority
Jeffrey Donaldson Appeals Sexual Abuse Conviction as Democratic Unionist Party Opens Review
Welsh Health Authorities Launch Emergency Meningitis Vaccination Programme for Students
Scottish Business Activity Falls for Third Month as Companies Face Rising Costs
Bank of England Regulators Demand Better Access to Digital Banking Services
United Kingdom Cuts Bilateral Aid to Several African Countries by Up to Ninety Per Cent
United Kingdom Introduces Tougher Deportation Rules After Rochdale Exploitation Scandal
×